Interlocking box partition



Nov. 22, 1960 w. 0. DE BARDELABEN, JR 2,961,114

INTERLOCKING BOX PARTITION Original Filed July 8, 1955 INVENTOR ATTORNEY I "Hi Iii; lillilk United States Patent 2,961,114 INTERLOCKING BOX PARTlTION William C. De Barflelahen, Jr., P.0. Box 21-2, Wetumpka, Ala. Continuation of application Ser. No. 520,824, July -8, 1955. Thu application Aug. 29, 1956, 'Ser. No. 606,932

-1 Claim. (Cl. 21:7 -22) The present invention relates to separators or partition units and more particularly to the partitions used in boxes and crates for separating bottles or the like in individual cells to prevent breakage and simplify the handling thereof.

Heretofore various types of crates and boxes have been .provided with partitions to separate products contained therein such as bottles or the like but these previously known partition units or separators have not been entire- 1y satisfactory because the parts thereof would not remain in assembled relation rendering the box or crate is used to increase the angular rigidityo'f the entire unit.

A further object is to provide reinforcing means to prevent breakage of the edge portions, particularly the :top-edge portions -of the-notched pa'rtition members, thereby reducing the necessity for replacements.

Another object of the present invention is to overcome the above dil'ficulties and provide a partition means for use in receptacles for bottles or other items which should be maintained separated.

A further object is to provide a readily assemblable and readily replaceable partition unit for application to existing boxes and crates as a repair or replacement unit.

A further object is to provide a partition unit which may be readily assembled and may be made of interchangeable parts reducing the expense of construction.

Another object is to provide an inexpensive and highly useful cellular structure of general utility.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a partition unit with parts broken away and parts omitted for ease of understanding and applied to a box shown in phantom line;

Fig. 2, a perspective view of one of the transverse partitions;

Fig. 3, a perspective exploded view of a central longitudinal partition;

Fig. 4, a perspective exploded view of an alternate form of central longitudinal partition with a clip for retaining the central keying strip in position;

Fig. 5, a fragmentary perspective of a partition unit showing the alternate form of the central partition with clip retained keying strip in operative relation; and

Fig. 6, a plan view of a metal clip of resilient material for retaining a keying strip in position.

Briefly stated, the present invention includes a plurality of substantially identical transverse partitions provided with an odd number of equally spaced rectangular apertures or slots into the end slots of which identical longitudinal partition sections are inserted, each section being provided with a plurality of notches to receive unslotted portions of the transverse partition while a keying strip passed through slots between longitudinal partition sections maintains such longitudinal partition sections in proper cooperative relation, the pper edges of the longitudinal and transverse partitions being substantially flush with one another.

In an alternate form of the invention the central partition includes a pair of partition sections which are sub stantially identical with the longitudinal sections having notches for cooperation with the unslotted portions of the transverse partitions and a central section to maintain the notched central partition sections in operative relation so that the outer edge thereof is substantially flush with the transverse partition. The end portions of the central partition of each form of the invention are cut away to provide a recess which is adapted to be in registry with a hand-receiving opening in the box or crate in which the separator is used. The keying strip of the alternate form of central partition is of less length than the sections to provide for the recess and a spring pressed clip secured to the alternate form of keying strip prevents unintentional disassembly of the unit with the possibility of loss through the hand-receiving openings of the crate or box.

Referring more particularly to the drawing a plurality of substantially identical transverse partitions 10 are each provided with a plurality of rectangular apertures or slots '11 corresponding slots of which are arranged in longitudinal registry with the partitions it in spaced relation. A first longitudinal partition including an elongated 'section12 having a plurality of notches 13 along one edge thereof and being substantially free of notches along the other edge is positioned within the outermost siots 11 "on one end of the partitions iii, the notches 13 receiving the portions of the transverse partitions between the slots and the upper edges thereof whereby the upper edges of the longitudinal section 1-2 and the upper edges of the transverse partition 10 are in substantially flush relation as shown in the drawing. A second section 14 substantially identical with section 12 is then inserted in the space remaining between the unnotched edge of the section 12 and the lower ends of the rectangular apertures in the partitions 1t) and then moved downwardly so that the notches 15 of the section 14 embrace the lower portions of the transverse partitions 10 while a keying strip 16 is inserted between the sections 12 and 14 and locks such sections in fixed relation.

As shown in Fig. 1 a central partition is formed of a first section 17 which is similar to the section 12 but is formed with a diagonal cut along inclined edges 18 at the opposite ends thereof which inclined edges merge with the unnotched edge of the section 17. Another section 19 of the central partition is free of notches on both edges but is cut away along the end portion of one of its edges providing diagonal portions 20 at each end thereof, the section 19 being inserted after the section 17 is inserted and raised so that its upper edge is substantially flush with the upper edges of the transverse partitions It The section 19 thereby keys the section 17 in position and the recess formed by inclined edges 18, 20 at each end being positioned in registry with hand receiving openings 21, 21 in a box 22 into which the completed se arator is inserted, the ends of the box 22 serving to lock the keying elements of each longitudinal partition in place whereby the separator unit will be prevented from disassembly, the separator unit being fixedly secured in the box 22 by any suitable means such as nails or the like.

A modification of the central partition is shown in Figs. 4 and 5 in which the transverse partitions and the edge longitudinal partitions are substantially identical with that shown in Fig. 1 and the upper section 23 of the central partition being substantially the same as partition sections 17 and the lower section 24 also being substantially the same as partition sections 17, the partition sections 23 and 24 being inserted in the central rectangular apertures 11 of the transverse partitions in substantially the same manner described above as to partition sections 12 and 14. However, the partition sections 23 and 24 are locked in position by means of a keying strip 25 of a length to just reach the intersection of the inclined edges defining the hand-receiving recess so as not to interfere with a persons hand being inserted through hand-receiving openings 21, 21.

To retain the strip 25 against longitudinal movement a metal clip detent 26 formed of spring steel is provided, such clip including a base portion 27 adapted to snugly engage the keying strip 25 and having a pair of prongs 28 at one end adapted to be driven into the keying strip 25 and having a reversely bent stop 29 at the other end thereof which merges into a transverse partition engaging seat 30 from which the material is bent upwardly at 31 and thence outwardly at 32 for engaging the strip 25. It will be evident that the clip 26 positively retains the keying strip 25 by engagement of the reversely bent portion 29 against the outer surface of the outer partition while the upwardly bent portion 31 engages the inner surface of the outer partition thereby securely locking the keying strip in position against accidental loss while permit-ting disassembly when repair or replacement of any of the partitions or partition sections is required.

It will thus be seen that a simple, strong and durable partition unit has been provided and that the parts thereof can be readily assembled and replaced by unskilled personnel to greatly reduce expenses in handling articles.

'It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is illustrated in the drawing and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the accompanying claim.

What is claimed is:

A partitioned box comprising an elongated open top receptacle, having a centrally disposed hand receiving hole in each end, a plurality of transverse partitions therein arranged in spaced relation in said receptacle, each transverse partition having a plurality of and an odd number of slots having closed peripheries, the corresponding slots of one transverse partition being in alignment with the corresponding slots of the other transverse partitions, a first elongated longitudinal partition section positioned in aligned slots of said transverse partitions, said first elongated longitudinal partition section having notches receiving one edge ofthe transverse partitions, a cooperating longitudinal partition section in the same aligned slots of the transverse partitions cooperating with said first longitudinal partition section to maintain the notched edge thereof in substantially flush relation with the adjacent edge of said transverse partitions, said cooperating partition element being of a size to pass through hand receiving holes and a leaf spring detent mounted on said cooperating elongated partitionsection, said leaf spring detent being located adjacent one end of said cooperating elongated partition section for cooperation with the adjacent end transverse partition, said leaf spring detent being bent out of the plane of the surface of said cooperating elongated partition section andreceivable in the cooperating slot of said end transverse partition and being yieldable to release said cooperating elongated partition section from said end transverse partition, said leaf spring detent havinga projection engaging the outer surface of the end transverse partition positively preventing movement of said cooperating partition in a direction toward the other end partition,-said leaf spring detent and said cooperating partition section being in alignment with the handholes and being of a size to pass through said hand holes. 1

References .Cited in the file of this patent UNITED .STATES PATENTS 221,589 Merlettejr Nov. 11, 1879 278,761 Baier u June 5,1883 511,672, Becker Dec. 26, 1893 940,436 Crockett Nov. 16, 1909 2,334,198 Hutchings Nov. 16,- 1943 2,554,958 Rosenberg et al. May29, 1951 

